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What: Stage Reading of Anne Hanley's "The Winter Bear"

When: 7 p.m. Thursday

Where: UA Museum of the North

Admission: Free

Preparations this week for a stage reading of Anne Hanley’s “The Winter Bear” will be the beginning of a saga for director Wesley Dalton and the dozens of people involved in its eventual opening curtain.

Dalton, making his directorial debut at 32, will bring the show to life while helping to mentor students from Effie Kokrine Charter School in the basics of theater. He’s also trying to make a documentary about the whole process.

“It involves a lot of different people,” he said. “This is really my directorial debut, but I’m collaborating with a lot of other talent.”

First, there will be a casting call on Saturday to find talented people to fill the roles in the play. The auditions will be held at 1 p.m. at Effie Kokrine Charter School, 601 Loftus Road. He’d also like to double-cast the play, using students from the Effie Kokrine class so they have a chance to experience acting as well.

“We’re just going to audition and see who fits those roles best. When you have a great story, you want to have great actors,” he said.

But a lengthy resume is not required.

“I’m willing to train the right people,” he said. Those interested can also stop by the information table at the Festival of Native Arts, which will be held at the University of Alaska Fairbanks through Saturday. In addition to actors, he’s looking for help with costumes, set design, sound and lighting.

Dalton hopes to have the roles all cast as soon as possible for the first unveiling of the play, a stage reading of “The Winter Bear,” which will be held at 7 p.m. Thursday at the UA Museum of the North. The reading will serve as the museum’s March lecture.

“You’ll be at the museum, looking at a piece of Alaska’s history, a piece of art, an original,” he said. “It’s original, it’s fictional. Anybody who appreciates great art, especially great literature, will appreciate this reading.”

The play is based on the book “Shadows on the Koyukuk: An Alaskan Native’s Life Along the River” as well as interviews with Alaska Natives, has an authenticity that attracted Dalton to the project.

“Anne Hanley is a white woman who wrote a Native play and was able to make it very close to genuine, and I give it a stamp of approval,” said Dalton, who is Alaska Native. “It’s a very good story that almost any person in Alaska can relate to.”

He also appreciates that it lacks the cliche of typical Last Frontier fiction.

“The play, I want to say it’s ‘mature.’ There’s some heavy language in some spots and the reason I really wanted to direct this for sure is because it’s very realistic … I can identify with it, and that’s how I know it’s authentic.”

Hanley, the first playwright to be named Alaska State Writer Laureate, lives in Fairbanks. Her other plays include “Ring Around the Rosie” and “The Sunset Clause.”

“Anne Hanley is such a great artist and a great Alaskan treasure,” he sad. “She’s written a great Alaskan tale, and I think it’s a piece of history. I have no doubt about that.”

“The Winter Bear” takes an unconventional approach to characters, sometimes using animals that have the ability to shapeshift in scenes that serve as a flashback for some of the characters.

“The animals will be representing and acting out certain characters to reveal more of those characters to us,” Dalton said. “The animals are so colorful. They’re going to be a big part of the actual play.”

The production is still trying to bring people to the project, so they can hopefully mentor the high school students who are interested in theater production.

“We’ll be training a whole new generation of kids in theater, and we’re hoping to inspire, not only through the story but through the production itself,” he said. “That’s the bottom line.”